When you’re young, it’s easy to get caught up in your own little world. You have nothing at all to worry about, except probably that you have to eat your vegetables for dinner. As you grow older, your problems start to get bigger. But still, your focus is solely on yourself.

One day, though, you have to grow up, and realize that not everything is about you. There are other people with problems of their own. And it’s possible that they’re not the only ones who experience the same dilemma. It’s possible that a whole group of people is caught up in the same issues. Some people grow up caring about these issues, and some don’t.

I think that’s one of the signs of maturity. Aside from the obvious, growing up means being aware of others’ problems, and being able to empathize with them. It means taking responsibility. It’s our responsibility, as citizens of this country and as members of this society, to at least be aware of what’s going on in it. We have to be aware of the problems that people face, not just the problems that we as individuals face. We have to know what’s going on around us, even though it doesn’t really concern us.

But in this day and age, it’s easier to be apathetic. Especially if you’re in a position of privilege, it’s much better to just not give a crap, because why should you?

Is that the kind of world you’d want to live in, though? A world where people don’t care that other people are suffering and being oppressed? A world where people are just plain assholes to each other?

That just isn’t right. I think that if there’s something that we can do to make the world even slightly better for the people who live in it, then we should do it—even if it’s as simple as giving a crap. We should make it our duty to know and to care. No matter what the issue is—racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, corruption, etc.—we should not be ignorant to them, especially if it happens right in our homes.

If we won’t care, who else will? - Isis EvangelistaIllustration by Frances De Guzman

It is a common notion that our elders are different from us, whether it's in the way we dress, the music we listen to, and more importantly, in the issues which affect us every day. We assume they have no idea and cannot help us when it comes to the problems we face. Here's the thing though, it has always been the same issues. They are just relabeled or sensationalized into a so called "new" issue. It's the perspective that has changed gradually over the years. As skirts get shorter, and the parties get wilder, it would seem that the various social issues are changing but they remain to be the same problems. The topics below are arguably the most talked about social issues which people have debated on for decades.

ALCOHOL & DRUGS

Before: Alcohol and drugs have always been an issue. If it's not about its overabundance, it's the lack thereof. Many popular drugs were legal 'till the 1980's. Heroin, cocaine, and other dangerous drugs were easy and cheap to obtain. The drug's dangerous side effects were not common knowledge to most people, so it was widely used without thought. Alcohol flowed freely as it always has but it was kept from the teens most of the time. Now: Not much has changed in the past few decades except for the fact that they are now more accessible and increasingly dangerous. Underage drinking and drug use are one of the biggest problems of society today. The party lifestyle of getting wasted and high are glamorized in TV shows and movies. Drinking and smoking marijuana are now the norm for teens. On a positive note, people are trying to convince the government to legalize certain drugs like marijuana due to its medicinal benefits and alcohol is being taxed higher in more countries. Society is trying to show that some drugs can actually have a good effect. Remember though that too much of a good thing can also be bad especially when you don't need it.

SEX

Before: People's virginities were valued. Most believed that it was a shame to have sex or do any intimate acts before marriage. It was considered indecent and immoral to fornicate. The media tried their best to limit the amount of sexual acts shown in TV, books, movies, and newspapers. The biggest issue was making sure that women most especially were pure before marriage. People valued who they would lose their virginities to. If you watched Doogie Howser, it always talked about sex but when the teenage doctor had a chance at it, he refused to do it because he believed that there had to be a certain maturity and readiness prior to having sex. Now: Losing your virginity is now considered as a badge of honor. People now are more anxious to lose it due to what the media promotes. Men and women are now shamed for being virgins. Women are called prudes and men are called losers. Men are conditioned that it is close to impossible to find a virgin wife. Most TV shows today are not complete without a sex scene or two. The world today has become more liberated when it comes to sex. Some fear that society’s morals have become too loose. Video scandals of sexual acts are so easily circulated with the use of social media.

EQUALITY Before: Society was always rebelling against the government and their religions due to certain unequal precedents. Women were belittled and the freedom speech was not easily obtained. There were thousands of protests for women to obtain voting rights and for men and women to be able to speak their minds without fear of cruel punishments. Now: One of the biggest issues today is women empowerment and gay rights. Though the situation on the equality of women's rights have improved immensely over the years, there are still countries where women are not allowed to have an education or vote or even show themselves. Such amazing women like Malala Yousafzai have fought greatly for there to be equality between men and women. Other prominent people in the celebrity industry have greatly supported gay rights. Many places all over the globe have legalized gay marriage and their adoption of children. Though it is still a long way to go before the LGBT community is widely accepted, they have started to gain due respect.

BULLYING

Before: Physical bullying was the most prominent form seen and is still seen today but not as often. Kids would go home with bloody cuts and bruises due to a bully's horrible acts. Anti-bullying campaigns were set but it took awhile before society actually took notice of the effects of bullying in society. Bullying is not just seen in schools but in neighborhoods as well. Domestic violence is one severe form of bullying which was and still is a large issue. Many kids were heavily beaten by mothers and fathers. Many victims did not know how to defend themselves from their tormentors. Now: Bullying is now done in a more sophisticated form. Cyber bullying is a real issue teens face today. Tormentors now prey on the more vulnerable emotional aspects of people. They break people without even having to touch them. Young teens are easily victimized by cyber bullies whose identities don't even have to be revealed. The bully's use of the powerful tool of social media to ruin these people is downright terrifying. Someone's whole reputation can be ruined with a single video, photo, or post. Bullying has evolved scarily throughout the years and unfortunately has not been stopped.

With the evolution of these same social issues facing teens, several root causes can be attributed to the lack of self-esteem, identity and belongingness. Notably, a strong family and friendship support system is key to successfully transitioning teens to an emotionally stable adulthood without succumbing to these common social issues.

With the Winter Olympics that took place in Russia, a lot of light has been shed on the gay issue there. Russia isn't exactly the most liberal country out there, that being that it's part of the Orthodox Church and it's growing authoritarianism. Now, their disapproval of homosexuals have gone to several points of violence and even the law. But how bad do they really got it there?

They do not have laws banning non-heterosexual acts completely, however they still have laws that restrict them. One of them is to "protect the younger generation from the effects of homosexual propaganda". This being said, gay couples cannot come out as gay to children. It had come to a point where some couples were threatened to be removed of their adopted kids.

Gay parades are banned in Russia. For 100 years. That's right, not 10, not even half of a century but a full blown century of not being to express your demand to be treated like a human being. Of course, there is the point that this would protect the LGBT community from the outrage they would bring on the streets, but you have to start somewhere right?

Homophobic extremists have killed many gay men due to their beliefs. Many gruesome stories are on the news and internet such as burning, gassing, rape, and et cetera.

With all that negativity being said, let's shed some light on what other countries are trying to do to uplift this social injustice.

Google has placed its doodle for the Sochi Olympics with all the colors of the rainbow, an ongoing symbol for gay pride. Below, the quote reads of how the Olympics should be played without any discrimination.

200 bars in New York have a movement wherein they boycott Russia's vodka supply. They have taken to the streets and poured the vodka out of the bottles. (Okay, slightly a waste of vodka) This is in response to Russia's law on banning non-heterosexual "propaganda".

Just imagine a young boy who just realized that he's gay. Just imagine on how there is almost a country full of people ready to beat and hurt him just because of that. Honestly, it's not like he doesn't have enough shit on his back, he also has to figure out how to not be killed and still be himself.

“Remember the day the whole world promoted one man? It didn’t take long to forget about Kony” - Mikill Pane, Andy Warhol

Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel force in Africa. For almost 30 years, this so-called group has been involved with numerous human rights violations such as murder and child-sex slavery to form an army comprised mostly of abducted children. These child soldiers are then forced to kill, even their own parents.

In March 2012, Invisible Children Inc. released a short-film/campaign entitled, KONY 2012. This was created in an effort to educate millions of people on the harsh realities in Africa regarding Joseph Kony. Since then, KONY 2012 garnered 100 million views and has been the most viral video in history, creating a widespread global movement. Eventually, news and talk about Kony died down; using up the 15 minutes of fame he had, but should he be just another subsided “trend”?

If you are not familiar with the concept, Poverty porn is the exploitation of the poor to provoke sympathy or donation to a specific cause with the use of media. Basically, these are the black and white dramatic images of indigent children or the documentaries of disease-stricken babies. It is any form of media that can make the privileged feel condolence and feel the need to donate to an organization, thinking that they have done their part to make these people’s lives ultimately better; when in reality, it takes more than just a donation to solve a massive global issue.

There is also the notion in poverty porn that the worse the imagery is, the better chance of an emotional impact on people. This means that people are more likely to respond or react to a petrifying poster of a starving little boy from Africa, than to a photo of a smiling homeless man. Why? Because “worse is best”.

What is wrong with it?

First of all, some non-governmental organizations utilize poverty porn for selfish gain. The money given by certain people to support a cause might not be used to actually help the ones in need.

Second, an article written by Emily Roenigk featured on ONE Organization explains five reasons why Poverty Porn “empowers the wrong person”:

Solving a social issue is not a click away, nor is it curable by sharing an article on Facebook. Donating material things do help, but experiencing poverty is far more complicated to be fixed by money.

2. Poverty porn leads to charity, not activism “It tells the poor that they are helpless beneficiaries and it tells financially secure donors that they are the saviors. In this dynamic, donors are told that they are the only ones with the ability to make a difference. Nothing is said about what it would look like to empower the poor and walk alongside them to help them realize their inherent ability to be the change agents in their own communities.” The poor might be in need, but they are not completely incapable of helping themselves. To an extent, thinking that the privileged are the poor’s only hope is not just problematic but also degrading.

3. Poverty porn misinterprets the poor “Poverty doesn’t only look like a starving child with flies on his face. In fact, poverty doesn’t look any particular way. It is multi-faceted and should be depicted as such.”

Also, if one only defines being “poor” as lacking funds or assets, he/she doesn’t even know the half of it. Being poverty-stricken also affects the psychological and emotional state of a person, it is not just a physical or material issue.

4. Poverty porn deceives the helper and the helped“First, Poverty porn tells donors that because of their position in society and because of their resources they have the ability to be the saviors in vulnerable communities they might know nothing about....Second, poverty porn debilitates the helped. Poverty porn objectifies its subjects, defining them by their suffering and stripping them of the vital components of all human life – agency, autonomy and unlimited potential.”

This is perpetuating a stereotype that the poor are indeed impotent. Instead of the media showing that they can make a difference in their own lives, the fortunate are called to believe that the less fortunate are totally dependent on what they give; which then suppresses their capabilities to create change by themselves.

5. Poverty porn works. “...audiences are more likely to make a financial donation when an ad shows a child that is suffering, rather than happy and healthy. At the end of the day, poverty porn is the result of well-meaning organizations attempting to raise money for their programs, and it works. This raises an important question – is the profitability of poverty porn worth the perpetuation of false ideologies and stereotypes? I say no....According to Strivastava, if we want to truly transform communities so they are economically and socially just, we have to create avenues for their voices to be heard. We cannot impose our constructs on them.”

Need I say more?So what do you think of this so-called ‘Poverty porn’?

History shows us that slavery was an integral part of human civilization, and that social system, in one form or another, kept the society from disintegrating - in that everyone had to have a place and duty to perform. Being owned by one person seemed to be quite an unaccepted yet unwanted reality. It was the norm. It is astonishing to look back and realize that people, slaves and non-slaves in general, kept up with this status for centuries when it could have been left, stopped, or abolished for a better world. Despite officially terminating the last form of [conventional] slavery (by law) in 1981, in Mauritania, Africa, have we really abandoned this old, selfish ways for good? Or have we only gotten so used to the concept that we’ve become incapable of identifying unconventional forms of it?

1. Who Am I?

A question that could serve as an umbrella for two branches of dilemmas: insecurities and misidentification. As media devours the most fragile of adolescents with the most ridiculous, most out of reach standards, especially at a time when these individuals are just starting to figure things out, things tend to go out of bound and turn catastrophic. Having insecurities means losing the freedom to be proud of being oneself. Insecurities are huge forces that force you to do/be/want something other than what is innate to yourself. You could have been excellent in math because you were born to be a mathlete, but media teaches you that math is boring, but shopping isn’t.

Misidentification is the opposite of insecurities. In this sense, media teaches you to get lost, to wander off into some unknown ‘paradise’. Little does one know that that so called ‘paradise’ is outside from one’s own and is hell wrapped in a pretty covering. When one does not know herself, she tends to live by blindly. She is unaware of where she wants to go, so she tends to get pushed around mindlessly, confirming and affirming to whatever and therefore submitting to this so-called slavery that she obeys to follow.

2. SMASH THE PATRIACHY!!!!

… is what twitter users keep shouting insistently, through the excessive use of exclamation points, question marks, and emojis. But I guess this message makes sense and its relevance is of utmost importance. Sexism has taken a toll on a lot of women, even those that don’t identify themselves as feminists. In many places (still), men are usually the rulers of the family, while women are destined to devote and master the domestic life. While embracing domestic life is not at all bad, the thought of being obligated to run the house because of gender and not by choice is abusive at best. Double standards conquer the world as well, and have given a set of expectations that come out as absurd. Observations such as women who are rowdy are not ladies, women who don’t wear skirts are lesbians, women who are career-oriented are not good homemakers, are just some of the really pathetic, narrow-minded opinions that shouldn’t be the basis for how one woman lives. SO CHOOSE TO BE A FREE WOMAN!!! or maybe check out comics that actually smash the patriarchy.

If you want know, more or less, how women are treated these days, watch this Upworthy video. (NSFW)

3. Arts? Nah. Expression? A must! But nah.

Another serious form of slavery. Denying the arts for something else.

Everybody insists that everyone should follow their heart, their dreams, their true calling. But what if one wishes to be an artist? What if one wants to devote her life to playing the cello? What if one wants to open her own soup kitchen? Will everyone be impressed with her dreams? Will everyone appreciate her as they appreciate the engineers, the pilots, the lawyers, and the doctors? The answer would less likely be yes.

Our society has become so absorbed with earning money, with buying luxury, that we forget to understand the underlying essence of living - which is making our dreams into reality. Isn’t being an artist as noble a profession as being an engineer? Without the arts, life ceases to exist. Art communicates - it is life. We tell our lawmakers to give freedom of speech a chance, but we put the appreciation for the arts at the last of our list of priorities. Isn’t art a form of speaking? Why are we so ready to tell our children to leave the arts for a better, more “ professional” career when we know they’ll become better persons doing what they love? Building careers shouldn’t be about the money one earns alone, but it should also be the fulfillment one gets. When one loves what she does, the rest, including money, should follow. Here's Proof.

Note: Everything is not always what they seem - so watch out. You might just be a slave or practicing slavery in the most unconventional forms.

Buying clothes has always been one of the best pastimes of women. With the prominence of fast fashion, being able to look trendy has never been so convenient. As the idea of greater commercialization, mass production, and maximum profit by lesser expenses has grown immensely in the minds of most people in the area of business, several real and demanding issues that serve detrimental to the development of some sectors of society have developed as well. The issue of child labor and sweatshops constitute as few of such detriments.

Sweatshops are places of manufacturing where employees are severely exploited and manipulated.

Ideally, workers should be subjected to labor rights; that of which includes the declaration for just wages, fair treatment, time for rest, and safe workplaces. Sweatshops often violate these privileges. These places also produce absolutely anything. They are widespread in developing countries mostly in Asia, South America, and some parts of Europe. Ultimately, what makes sweatshops an alarming matter are the gruesome conditions the workers are being subjected to. Laborers of these places usually work 60-80 hours per week but their pay isn’t enough to even cover the basic necessities of their families. Employers usually employ a worker by contract so that absences aren’t paid. Workers are not also given enough time for leisure and rest, and holidays are not commonly given as their rest day. These people lose the chance of being able to join trade union activities as it maybe the reason why employees don’t get hired again after the contract ends. Sweatshops are also a bed for child labor and employee mistreatments.

A Daily Mail article voiced out these real concerns of sweatshops when a Canadian journalist by the name of Raveena Aulakh exposed herself to working in a Bangladeshi factory of clothes. There she met 9 year-old worker Meem who has grown accustomed to the life of drastic conditions. This certain Bangladeshi factory had very poor ventilation, insufficiently planned emergency schemes (no fire extinguisher and only one exit), and unhygienic toilets (which was described to have been “down a rat-infested hall”). Meem, the kid worker, toiled for wages that are about $25 a month that were soon given to her parents.

Sweatshops have also grown to become an ordeal for feminists. A feminist.org statistic proclaimed that women between 15-25 years of age compose 85% of sweatshop workers. As quoted from the same site as well, “The employers at these sweatshops often force the women to take birth control and do routine pregnancy tests so they do not have to pay maternity leave. Women are often fired after becoming pregnant in complete violation of the law, yet no one is held accountable."

Why are there sweatshops?

Sweatshops are rooted in the companies’ desire for maximum profit and less expense. Firms therefore sought for sweatshops composed of cheap labor. Individuals who cannot provide enough to live each day offer not only themselves but also anyone they know capable of doing the job regardless of age and gender. These people have no choice and chance to choose where to work as desperation leads them to succumb to even the most dangerous environment for money. Some companies argue that taking them in, even if such workers are children, is a far better decision since these people are given something to work for rather than nothing at all.How can WE stop sweatshops?

1. Awareness: This could probably be laborious, but awareness of brands that use of sweatshops to manufacture their goods could go a long, long way. Being able to know about the issues of sweatshops at a more comprehensive level, by reading newspapers and online periodicals, helps one understand its gravity and understand how much people are willing to pay for the price of abuse and mistreatment. 2. Action: Don’t patronize brands that abuse its workers in exchange for profit. Placing individuals in harsh conditions, even if the argument says that at least they’re given jobs to support their families, will never be right.

Before, we talked about PETA and how they advocate their beliefs in horrible ways. This time around, we’re going to talk about another interesting - for lack of a better word - campaign upholding animal rights.

About two years ago, Lush cosmetics started a campaign that encouraged its customers to sign a petition to stop animal testing in the cosmetics industry. To promote their cause, they hired Jacqueline Traide, a 24-year-old performance artist, to be subjected to the same kind of experiments animals go through in their Regent Street store for the whole of London to see.

Below is a video documenting the ordeal (the video is very graphic, so if you’re a bit queasy or feel triggered by torture, I suggest you skip it):

For 10 whole hours, Traide was restrained, force-fed, shaved, injected with all sorts of chemicals, and much more. Passersby looked shocked and were driven by the show to sign the petition, which was the intent of the whole protest. Lush wanted the world to know that what was done to Traide was being done to thousands of animals every single day.

However, was it really necessary to go to such lengths, to physically torture this woman in front of people, to fight for animal rights?

To be honest, when I first read about this campaign, I was flabbergasted, and disgusted, to say the least. I understand that they really intended to shock people and provoke people to take action, but to dehumanize and humiliate a woman was just too much. To me, it didn’t seem like a protest for animal cruelty; however provocative and inspiring as it may be, it seemed more like an act of violence against a human being, specifically against women. I'm pretty sure there are many other ways to fight for a cause that wouldn't intentionally cause harm on a person and wouldn't be triggering for people who might have been victims of abuse in the past.

In her defense, however, Traide herself made a statement about the situation:

"It was in trepidation that I took on board this performance but not without respect or understanding of its potential, diverse and far reaching affect.

"I am not only a performance artist but also a teacher, a woman, a friend, a consumer, a feminist, a victim of sexual abuse, a student and most of all a fellow human being. A human who seeks to work for freedom through all of my identities.

"It was somewhere after the fourth hour of this live act that I found my self asking the question ‘why exactly am i here?’. I realised then that it was not to lush, nor to the onlookers but to the beings, animals and humans alike, that endure such suffering without choice.

"I am very aware of the consequences arising out of such a performance and feel it is of great important to stimulate and bring new perspectives and awareness on all levels.I hope that the emotions and opinions the performance has provoked in people will inspire people to channel these energies into going out and fighting for all these injustices in the world through art, live action, performance, theatre, dance and music as well as an expression through debate – for if not through diverse mediums and the coming together through our many identities and creativity will these things can be changed?"

So, what do you think? Were you moved by her performance or were you just as disgusted as I was?

During Easter Sunday, I spent the whole afternoon at my lola’s house with a bunch of my other cousins carelessly wading through the day by eating paella, cakes, sansrivals, and more paella. It was only towards the latter part of my visit when I was able to curiously uncover a huge pile of old National Geographic magazines dating back to the 60s until the 80s inside a cabinet in the old library. My wonder did not hold me back from pulling out random issues despite its brittle, dusty pages. One of the issues that I was able to get a hold off was one that specifically dated back to March 1965. The cover photo was this Spanish girl in this beautiful green dress. What struck me the most about this certain issue was that it was about the “Changing Face of Old Spain”. A sub-article inside it talked more on the Spanish city of Pamplona and a celebration called Fiesta de San Fermin, which was spent to honor their patron saint.

Fiestas. It seems as if it is a word so common yet so foreign to me. All I think about when I hear the word “fiesta”, is this grand event full of faces of prominent individuals or products plastered on every corner of the venue. And it is quite odd somehow that while I was looking through the photos of the 1965 issue, I didn’t see even a speck of advertising, nor portraits of individuals hanging on any post at the celebration. Festivals or community gatherings today have turned into occasions full of advertisements or promotional tactics. Now is it even right or justifiable to allow the commercialization of festivals and holidays or are we only sacrificing the integrity of these events knowing that most of such occasions are in honor of a sacred person, event, or entity by society?

PROS Characterizing special holidays to specific commercial products makes it easily adaptable to the changing times of society. As materialistic as the whole concept may seem, the reality of having to relate plastic pine tress to Christmas, chocolates to Valentines, or cakes and candles to birthdays, have forced people to buy these products again and again, thereby retaining in their minds a sense of obligation to remember the occasion. In the US alone, statistics have presented that Americans buy 33 million real Christmas trees annually, while they also buy 58 million pounds of chocolate as Valentine’s day approaches. Industries benefit the advent of holidays, and so commercializing these events should only be as convenient and beneficial to the growth of their institutions. Monetary funds are the blood of holidays, and they are the primary life-giving entities that carry festivals into being.

CONS Sacrilege. No, I am not referring to Yeah Yeah Yeah’s super catchy song. The “sacrilege“ that I’m referring to, as defined by Webster Dictionary Online “ [is] an act of treating a holy place or object in a way that does not show proper respect.” Commercializing holidays may sometimes lead to this act for 2 main reasons. First of which is that, primarily associating special dates to commercial advertising loses the luster and significance of it. Ask a kid today what first thing comes up to her head when you mention Easter, and surely one of the first things that would pop in their heads would be egg hunting. Easter in Catholic tradition celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus, and Easter egg hunting serves merely as a supplement to the celebration – sadly however, we’ve come to know the celebration because the practice. Secondly, the mindset brought about by festivals today revolves so much of what one can get and benefit from the whole celebration. People think so much of how much money they can get from partying with the whole barangay or how much more famous or well known they can get from generously offering what they have for the success of an event. For instance, the Santacruzan, a famous Filipino tradition that honors Queen Helena (hence the role name of Reyna Elena) and her son Constantine the Great’s expeditions in finding the True cross of Jesus Christ, traditionally showcased beautiful everyday women in their best traditional wear while parading around town, usually atop floats abundantly decorated with flowers. Santacruzans today are much more like beauty exhibitions, which comprise of famous personalities clad in their best designer filipinianas. It has turned into this commercial advertising where fashion designers yearn for credit while personalities aim for fame – which in my opinion is quite ridiculous.

Sometimes I feel bad growing up in a generation where Christmas matters because one may be getting new things from Santa and her parents, or that one celebrated birthdays because she knows she’ll be spending on lavish parties and eating tons and tons of food. I feel envious, every time my lola would share how important and how cherished traditional practices were, such as the Simbang Gabi where the family enjoyed the acclaimed puto bumbong and bibingka. Now I ask once more: Are we really ready to give up having to spend time remembering the triumphant person, event, or entity that has been loved by the people in exchange for fostering a culture of commercialized thinking?

Physics has always been firm in its belief that light travels at the speed of 3x10^8 m/s in vacuum, and by scientific law, no entity situated on earth or in space has been proven (yet) to have surpassed the speed of light. However, it is quite mind boggling to think of it so, considering that say, an industry so fickle as that of the fashion industry, has been creating a sort of disloyal aesthetic at a significantly swift pace. Come to think of it, doesn’t fashion - most specifically manufacturing and merchandising of new clothes - progress much faster than light? And isn’t it weird that because it travels so fast, none of us understand (and sometimes care) how people dress anymore?

Fast Fashion is basically a term to describe the rapid production of garments as inspired by a certain trend during a certain fashion season. Fashion seasons are called after seasons that occur on Earth, although they occur 6 months earlier the season they were named after (weird right?). Fashion seasons vary per country. For instance, New York and Paris celebrate the major seasons: Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer; but they also have seasons such as pre-fall, resort/cruise, haute couture, etc. In the Philippines, however; there are two major fashion seasons: spring/summer and holiday. Examples of retail brands that are known for fast fashion apparel are Forever 21, H&M, Zara, Topshop, and the like.

Pros Fast Fashion is famous for its affordability. Buying trendy garments have become so much easier and convenient since its birth and has, since then, molded people into considering dressing up as a serious art form. Since the average consumer’s shopping habits have drastically changed since the 1800s, fast fashion has drastically changed people’s perceptions as well. Fashion trends are terribly short-lived, but the hype of choosing to wear what everyone does gets people to start hoarding goods that they know will surely fleet soon. Today, people usually don’t regard quality as their primary reason for purchasing; rather, they look at how much clothes they have. By means of practically, buying a designer pair of pants as compared to buying tons of the same kind from inexpensive retail stores is not a good idea anymore. Fast Fashion is a good money-maker and no one can deny that fact that it has offered so many job opportunities to so many people, as buying clothes having become an extremely important necessity/ fad

Cons Because of the lucrative nature of the retail industry, some companies would go the extra mile for profit, even if it means having to pay a visit to the gates of wickedness, so to speak. Inhumane and irresponsible productions have surrounded fast fashion retail giants, specifically concerning its employment of child laborers and its construction of inadequately built and unsafe factories. Some enterprises have been caught in allegations saying that their employees are kept in hazardous conditions and are required to serve for 16 to even 18 hours a day.

While yes, producing new clothes regularly for the consumption of the masses is inevitable, generating excessive products that will merely fall into the surplus bin does not only do damage to the pockets of companies, but to the environment as well. Fast Fashion may be pinpointed as one of the many culprits to the ever increasing inhabitants of landfills today. Thirdly, designer buys are still an investment and a good purchase. Yes they may be too expensive; but really, who wants to miss out on a good sturdy heel or ultra-soft sweaters. Besides, even if you are tired of your Blahnik’s, you could always sell them at a good expensive price, albeit lower. Investment buying may hurt your savings, but are altogether a celebration and a good exchange for what you’ve been working for.

Newton’s second law of motion (Law of Acceleration) states that the net force of a certain object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration (F=ma). Since the quantities of acceleration and mass are inversely proportional, the second law tells us that if the mass of a certain object is small, its acceleration must be great.

Newton must not have seen the idea of fashion when he did his equations, because if we gather the mass generated by all the clothing produced via fast fashion and equate it with a constant force, its acceleration value will most definitely not be small.